Have been tying up some DHE style flies with a poly bead instead of a deer hair wing. Idea is to produce a fly that is unsinkable but needs no gink. Usual thing, small poly-bead wrapped in a bit of old nylon tights.
Tested them in a glass of water and, yes, they float correctly but also much lower in the film than I ever imagined they would . Ginking the thorax had an effect, it mainly cocked the fly back so it sat in a more vertical position.
This prompted me to float test some real DHE tyings (with hair wings) - same thing.
Two questions spring to mind. How low / high in the water should the fly sit and if it is very low, will the deer hair wing – or more importantly for my experiment – the poly-bead spook the fish?
Depends if you are fishing it as a nymph or emerger I suppose. I've never found it a problem spooking fish that I know of :)
As you can see from this I don't scrimp on the foam either :)
(http://www.ftscotland.co.uk/gallery/flies/floating_nymph.756x472.jpg)
I think in this case, more foam might be less - if you follow me. Keep it higher in the water and the fish see less of the foam?
I think sometimes they look on the foam as A) a bubble or B) wings, or maybe they just don't pay it any attention and ignore it :)
Hmmm, what happened to my reply to your post? Lost it somehow.
Anyway, Fred, don't worry about the fly sinking, it's better sunk. Just need something to sight on.
Remember while testing that the attached mono has a big effect on the attitude of the fly. Most of the time testing in a basin at home doesnt show you the true way it will sit while fishing it.
Quote from: HavtafishRemember while testing that the attached mono has a big effect on the attitude of the fly. Most of the time testing in a basin at home doesnt show you the true way it will sit while fishing it.
That's true and it is a hell of a difficult thing to try to imitate in a glass of water! With nylon it woud almost certainly keep the fly higher and more level (depending on how the fly was tied on?)
Quote from: Bob WyattHmmm, what happened to my reply to your post? Lost it somehow.
Anyway, Fred, don't worry about the fly sinking, it's better sunk. Just need something to sight on.
Bob, what I was concerned about was the fish seeing the wing hair – or in the case of my experimental fly the white of poly-bead. Do you believe the bead might be a problem? I suppose I could colour the underside of the bead with a marker pen, leaving the upper ? white to make it easier for me to see
Interesting idea with the foam there Fred. Are you just using those little polystyrene balls? Never tried them myself, but maybe will do.
I guess an extreme version of this situation would be a fly like these ones: http://www.sexyloops.com/picofday/flies/parasol.shtml
Maybe not for the purists but perhaps worth thinking about...
Quote from: badgerInteresting idea with the foam there Fred. Are you just using those little polystyrene balls? Never tried them myself, but maybe will do.
I guess an extreme version of this situation would be a fly like these ones: http://www.sexyloops.com/picofday/flies/parasol.shtml
Maybe not for the purists but perhaps worth thinking about...
It's not an original. If you look at Sandy's floating nymph it's the same. Then there are all these suspender buzzers and things that use a similar idea. I am just wrapping the ball in some old nylon tights material and tying it in. It works really well (as far as the tying goes) and the fly can be tied in no time flat. Very fast. It's just an attempt to bring together different ideas (Bobs' DHE and a suspender buzzer in this case) to try to make everything as simple as possible and to make a totally unsinkable fly.
I guess it's just thinking about your fishing – and that's ? the fun. If you don't do / try these things it might go a bit stale. For me anyway! :D
Nice one Fred :) right enough.
Never liked the polystyrene balls for suspenders. They don't seem to be very durable once a fish or two have had a nibble. I have had a lot of success in the past with suspended buzzer type flies tied using a strip of foam.
One pattern in particular has a body of rusty orange squirrel, ex-fine oval gold rib, thorax same as body, but picked out to make it spiky, and a brown foam head.
This pattern can be devastating when there are beetles on the water.